Latest Senate poll news

There is good news from two Senate fronts today. First, a Rasmussen poll puts Republican Rick Berg nine points ahead (49-40) of his Democratic challenger, Heidi Heitkamp, in North Dakota. I’ve assumed that Berg would fairly handily win in this Red state. But folks who actually know the state tell me that Heitkamp, an attractive candidate, has a shot. Moreover, a Mason-Dixon poll in early June had Heitkamp leading by one point (47-46). But now, Berg appears to have a solid, though hardly insurmountable, lead.

Meanwhile, in Texas, a PPP poll has Ted Cruz leading David Dewhurst in the Republican runoff election by five points (49-44). This is a huge, and for me unexpected, turnaround. A month and a half ago, Dewhurst ran well ahead of Cruz in the Republican primary. At that time, Dewhurst collected 44.6 percent of the vote compared to 34.2 percent for Cruz.

To further illustrate the magnitude of Cruz’s surge, consider that a PPP poll taken on May 22-23 had Dewhurst leading Cruz by 59-34.